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Great Cormorant
The''' Great Cormorant''' (Phalacrocorax carbo) is a large sea bird, often seen drying off its wings on posts. Description The Cormorant is a large black bird, but there is a wide variation in size in the species wide range. Weight is reported from 1.5 kg (3.3 lbs) to 5.3 kg (11.7 lbs), with a typical range from 2.6 to 3.7 kg (5.7-8.2 lbs). Length can vary from 70 to 102 cm (28-40 in) and wingspan from 121 to 160 cm (48-63 in). It has a longish tail and yellow throat-patch. Adults have white thigh patches in the breeding season. In European waters it can be distinguished from the Shag by its larger size, heavier build, thicker bill, lack of a crest and plumage without any green tinge. Distribution This is a very common and widespread bird species. It feeds on the sea, in estuaries, and on freshwater lakes and rivers. Northern birds migrate south and winter along any coast that is well-supplied with fish. The type subspecies, P. c. carbo, is found mainly in Atlantic waters and nearby inland areas: on western European coasts and south to North Africa, the Faroe Islands, Iceland and Greenland; and on the eastern seaboard of North America, though in America it breeds only in the north of its range, in the Canadian maritime provinces. Behaviour The Cormorant breeds mainly on coasts, nesting on cliffs or in trees (which are eventually killed by the droppings), but also increasingly inland. 3-4 eggs are laid in a nest of seaweed or twigs. The Cormorant can dive to considerable depths, but often feeds in shallow water. It frequently brings prey to the surface. A wide variety of fish are taken: cormorants are often noticed eating eels, but this may reflect the considerable time taken to subdue an eel and position it for swallowing, rather than any dominance of eels in the diet. In British waters, dive times of 20–30 seconds are common, with a recovery time on the surface around a third of the dive time. The Cormorant is one of the few birds which can move its eyes, which assists in hunting. Cormorants and humans Many fishermen see in the Cormorant a competitor for fish. Because of this it was nearly hunted to extinction in the past. Thanks to conservation efforts its numbers increased. At the moment there are about 1,2 million birds in Europe (based on winter counts. Late summer counts would show higher numbers). Increasing populations have once again brought the cormorant into conflict with fisheries. For example, in Britain, where inland breeding was once uncommon, there are now increasing numbers of birds breeding inland, and many inland fish farms and fisheries now claim to be suffering high losses due to these birds. In the UK each year some licences are issued to shoot specified numbers of cormorants in order to help reduce predation, it is however still illegal to kill a bird without such a licence. In Norway cormorants is a traditional game bird. Each year ca. 10,000 cormorants are shot to be eaten. In North Norway, cormorants are traditionally seen as semi-sacred.It is regarded as good luck to have cormorants gather near your village or settlement. An old legend states that people who die far out at sea, their bodies never recovered, spend eternity on the island Utrøst - which can only occasionally be found by mortals. The inhabitants of Utrøst can only visit their homes in the shape of cormorants. Gallery Birds.2009 270.jpg|Juvenile Cormorant - http://www.flickr.com/photos/48035701@N04/ Cormorant map.jpg|Distribution of Cormorants in the UK|link=Distribution maps 49686af59741bcf6002abc722156d19c.jpg|Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo) Category:Birds Category:Seabirds Category:Vertebrates Category:Chordata Category:Phalacrocacidae Category:Pelecaniformes